Home Thesaurus polish

Synonyms of polish in English:

polish


See definition of polish

verb

1‘I polished his shoes’

SYNONYMS

shine, wax, buff, rub up, rub down

gloss, burnish, brighten, smooth

varnish, oil, glaze, lacquer, enamel, japan, shellac

archaic furbish

2‘it's time to polish up your essay’

SYNONYMS

perfect, refine, improve, hone, embellish, enhance, put the final touches to, put the finishing touches to

brush up, revise, copy-edit, correct, emend, rewrite, rephrase, rescript, go over, touch up, finish off

informal clean up


noun

1‘shoe polish’

SYNONYMS

wax, varnish, glaze, lacquer, enamel, japan, shellac

2‘this process achieves a good surface polish’

SYNONYMS

shine, gloss, lustre, sheen, sparkle, patina, finish, smoothness

3‘he had changed, with all his polish and scholarship’

SYNONYMS

sophistication, refinement, urbanity, suavity, suaveness, elegance, style, grace, finish, accomplishment, finesse, subtlety, distinction, taste, cultivation, culture, politeness, civility, gentility, breeding, courtesy, courteousness, manners, good manners

informal class

humorous couth


Phrases

    polish something off

      1‘he had polished off an apple pie and a strawberry milkshake’

      SYNONYMS

      eat up, finish, consume, devour, eat greedily, guzzle, feast on, binge-eat, wolf down, down, bolt

      drink up, empty, drain, quaff, gulp, gulp down

      informal

      binge on, stuff one's face with, stuff oneself with, get outside of, murder, pack away, put away, scoff, scoff down, shovel down, pig oneself on, pig out on, sink, swill, knock back, get one's laughing gear round

      British informal

      shift, gollop, bevvy

      North American informal

      scarf, scarf down, scarf up, snarf, snarf down, snarf up, inhale, chug

      rare

      ingurgitate, bib

      2‘a third enemy plane tried to polish him off’

      SYNONYMS

      destroy, put an end to, finish off, dispatch, dispose of, do away with, eliminate, kill, liquidate

      informal

      bump off, knock off, do in, blow away, take out

      North American informal

      rub out

      3‘I'll polish off the last few pages’

      SYNONYMS

      complete, finish, deal with, wrap up, accomplish, execute, discharge, do, get done, fulfil, achieve, attain, end, conclude, close, bring to a close, bring to a conclusion, bring to a end, finalize, stop, cease, terminate, round off, wind up

      informal

      sew up, have something sewn up